July 11, 2024 • 46 mins
Ever wondered how an unconventional path can lead to monumental success in the film industry? This episode features Scott Mosier, one of the icon filmmakers behind indie classics like Clerks, Mallrats, and Dogma. Scott shares his remarkable journey from a curious child fascinated by movies to becoming a key player in independent filmmaking. He reveals the transformative moments and creative decisions that shaped his career, including his long-term collaboration with Kevin Smith and his recent directorial role on the animated hit The Grinch.
Scott opens up about his early days in the industry, recounting the challenges and triumphs of transitioning from a dolly grip to a fully-fledged producer. Listen to Scott's reflections on the importance of supporting a filmmaker's vision and the creative nuances that come with managing larger projects.
This conversation also highlights the value of self-directed learning and discusses the difference between traditional schooling and following one's passions, emphasizing the need for mental space to foster creativity.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Scott Mosier (00:01):
To my career's detriment.
I didn't have a plan, I didn'treally have an intention to be a
producer, I just wanted to makefilms.
I, oddly, am not that differentnow.
Jennifer Coronado (00:14):
Hello and welcome to Everyone Is I am your
host, jennifer Coronado.
The intent of this show is toengage with all types of people
and build an understanding thatanyone who has any kind of
success has achieved thatsuccess because they are a
creative thinker.
So, whether you are an artistor a cook or an award-winning
journalist, everyone hassomething to contribute to the
(00:34):
human conversation.
And now, as they say, on withthe show, I think it's safe to
say that Scott Mosher is anindependent film icon.
From his early days workingwith Kevin Smith as a producer,
editor and the character ofWilliam the Idiot Manchild from
his first film, clerks, to hisrole as producer on several more
(00:58):
of Kevin's films, includingones like Mallrats and Dogma, he
has been a force.
He's also been a voice artist,a podcaster, a writer, a
director on the Grinch animatedfilm, and we're going to talk
about how he got there.
So welcome to Everyone Is ScottMosher.
Scott Mosier (01:13):
Thank you.
Thank you for calling out myrole as the idiot man-child that
I'd seem to, a shadow I seemnever able to escape.
Jennifer Coronado (01:23):
Well, I thought when I was reading
through your credits on that Iwas like I love all the little
because you played so manycharacters in so many films.
And I love the names of themand I know you played three
characters in Clerks, but thatwas the one that stood out to me
.
Scott Mosier (01:37):
I can't remember if that was a role where
somebody just didn't show upBecause we were all
non-professionals or friends,and so there was definitely
times where it was like like youplay that guy and then somebody
wouldn't show up.
And then it'd be like, allright, put on a hat and then put
on a voice for something and goplay another character, because
(01:57):
he wasn't really in the moviethat much, he was pretty much
just kind of there.
But then as soon as you startto play a character, then you're
oh, why don't you walk in anddo this?
I think I can't remember how.
I don't remember how we endedup.
Unfortunately, a lot of theanswers I'm going to give you
are like I don't remember.
That's okay, I don't rememberthe exact process.
Jennifer Coronado (02:18):
I sort of set the table of what you know,
what your career has been so far.
But I want to start with thechildhood of Scott and where did
you grow up?
And tell me a little bit aboutyour family and your growing up.
Scott Mosier (02:28):
I was born in Vancouver, washington, which is
just on the other side of theColumbia from Portland, and
that's really where all thefamilies were concentrated my
mother and father's big Swedishcommunity on my mother's side,
sort of a lot of people fromthat region moved to that part
(02:53):
of the Northwest and then myfather worked for a company
named Freightliner that buildslike sort of big 18 wheelers and
we lived around there until Iwas about five or six.
We lived in a little suburbanhouse and we ended up on like a
five acre little spread and likea.
It wasn't a farm, like itwasn't like farming stuff, but
we were on like five acres ofthe pond and the bus would drop
(03:16):
me off.
My mom would always say likeshe, just she could see me, like
it was a long driveway but it'dtake me like an hour to walk
home because I would just, youknow, grab a stick and run
around in the woods and justsort of meander my way.
And then we moved to Californiawhen I was five, to a suburb of
LA called Upland, near SanBernardino.
So we lived there until I waslike 10.
(03:38):
And this is all.
My dad's work was kind of sortof pushing us to move and then
there, and then we moved tovancouver, bc, or outside of
vancouver bc, um.
So my formative years werereally spent up in canada, um,
and and during that time, youknow, I I was always into art, I
(04:00):
liked movies when I was growingup, but like it didn't really
hit me till I got a little bitolder, like by the time I was in
my early teens.
I remember, you know, I had theonly poster I have in my office
is a kind of not a real posterof raiders of the lost ark, but
one that I found online.
I was, I really enjoyed movies,but that was the movie where I
(04:22):
was like, oh, I don't want to bean archaeologist, like the kid
version is.
Like't want to be anarchaeologist, like the kid
version is like I want to be anarchaeologist because we're
translating it literally, we'regoing like oh, that's what it's
like to be an archaeologistRight, like that looks super fun
.
But that was the first movie Iwatched and I think I was 12
where I really was made theconnection of like, oh, I want
(04:44):
to, I would like to make movies.
Jennifer Coronado (04:47):
Like when you're thinking about that, like
, oh, I want to make movies.
What was it about that?
Like did you?
How did you think movies weremade?
Like, what about it made youthink about?
Scott Mosier (04:58):
making it versus just watching it.
You know I enjoyed movies andart and comic books and I was
always, you know I was into allthat stuff.
But I think when I saw Raidersand I really loved it and I
still do, it's one of myfavorite movies of all time and
I got really swept up in it,like I kind of had gotten to the
point where my curiosity, orI'd just seen enough that in
(05:22):
that movie I was like I made theconnection, like I loved the
movie, and then I made theconnection of just like, oh well
, if I love the movie, howamazing would it be to actually
make it?
Now conceptually, like I didn'tunderstand all the elements
that went into making a movie orall the that sort of began
(05:45):
after that point.
It was very, it was moreabstract.
It was really just going like Iknow that that's a movie and I
know people made it I don'tnecessarily know how and so I
was reading magazines, books.
I remember by the time I got itwas like that first ILM book
(06:06):
that came out, because once Istarted examining and looking at
the process, I just watchedmaking of and like I really
started digging into it.
But that was the sort of thatwas the moment where the
connection between like likingmovies or loving movies, and
then, and then the desire to godo it.
(06:28):
And then the more I looked intoit, the more I was watching
things and the more it didn'tdissuade me.
It was like this is what I wantto do.
And and then I still watched alot of movies.
But once I, once I, graduatedhigh school, my grades were were
terrible.
I was a terrible.
I was a terrible.
I still am a terrible student.
(06:49):
I'd bomb my SATs.
And so when I left Canada to godown to California to go to
school, I got into this OrangeCoast College it was like a big
community college in OrangeCounty and I basically convinced
them that I'd moved fromCalifornia to Canada so I'd
never moved to another state.
It was, I don't know why, butthey gave me in-state tuition
(07:10):
and it was cheap and they had afilm program that was just like,
you know, like VHS to VHS, kindof like.
This is like 1989.
So this is late 89.
Jennifer Coronado (07:22):
Well, I want to ask you about that, because
you said you convinced themright.
Scott Mosier (07:26):
Yeah.
Jennifer Coronado (07:26):
You were what ?
18, 19 years old.
Scott Mosier (07:30):
I was 18.
Jennifer Coronado (07:31):
Yeah.
How do you go about convincingthem Like, was it your parents
helping you or was it you going?
Hey man, look, I deserve thisin-state tuition.
How did you do that?
Scott Mosier (07:40):
I wish it was this great moment.
It's like it really was mesitting there going like, like I
just come up with this argumentin my head of like I was like
well, I never left the state ofCalifornia, I moved out of the
country and now I'm back.
So it's like I never reallygave up my California state
residency.
And the person was kind ofnodding at me and I was like so,
(08:02):
technically, I was like I'mstill aifornia state resident,
my last united states address isin california.
And I just kept saying and thenthe I can't tell if the person
was just like yeah, but it waslike it wasn't.
Like they just were like allright, whatever, they like gave
me the stamp, like I just sortof I was.
I mean, my parents could haveafforded to if we had to to, but
(08:24):
I was really like because Idon't like.
I never liked going to school.
I was like I, I am the personwho should go to school as
cheaply as possible, like no oneshould spend a lot of money on
my education, because I getbored and and restless and and
don't go to class and all theseother things.
So I was always trying to keep.
(08:46):
My parents were very generousin helping me do it, but I was
always like I need to just go tothe cheapest schools possible.
I did that for about a year anda half.
I did it for a couple semesters.
My grades did not get anybetter.
There was a thing called UCLAExtension and so I moved up to
(09:09):
LA and started taking theseextension classes at night, like
in screenwriting and anythingmostly screenwriting.
I'd been away for a few yearsand then once my collegiate
career was going nowhere and soI remember there was the
Vancouver Film a, the vancouverfilm school.
Now I think it's primarilyanimation and vfx and stuff like
that, but at the time it wasjust a small film school and I
(09:33):
was in la and I was likeinterning for a producer and I
was taking night classes andthen I was the stockroom manager
at banana republic it and I'm areally good folder.
I fold all the laundry in thehouse because I did that job for
many, many years.
So my wife tends to just throwit all on the table.
Jennifer Coronado (09:54):
I was going to say do you have the folding
board?
Scott Mosier (09:56):
No, I don't need it because it was too slow.
I was like.
I just learned how to do it.
So then I was going to go toart school or film school.
I was really on the fencebecause I loved comic books and
I loved drawing comic books andI loved art.
And I was like so I'm 20 atthis point and I was like I got
(10:18):
to pick one or the other and Iused to run around the campus
and then sometimes I'd cutthrough the middle and I'd run
at night a lot, and so I wasrunning and I ran up the stairs.
When I got to the top of thestairs there was a really bright
light, like a blinding light,and I couldn't see that well.
So I kind of stopped to catchmyself because it was like right
(10:39):
in my face and when I, when myeyes adjusted, they were
shooting a movie and I was likeall right, like you know, that's
good enough, like that's enough, because I was really torn.
I was like so 50-50.
And like so many things in life, there's all this scientific
studies of decision making andit really is like most of the
(11:00):
time we just make decisions forthose reasons, for any reason.
Like we can spend six yearsdebating about something and
then we really just make thedecision in the last two minutes
and so I was like, all right,I'm going to go to film school.
I packed up and moved back toVancouver and I think I was in
(11:20):
school.
It was like three months fromthe moment that happened until I
was in class and that's when Imet Kevin.
So Kevin was in my class andthen one other person named Dave
Klein, who now is a.
He's a DP, like he's onMandalorian and Boba Fett, and
so he's like he.
He was younger than us but sohe he.
So all three of us met andKevin left.
(11:44):
It was an eight-month techschool and Kevin left after four
months and then Dave and I kindof stayed the whole time
because Kevin wanted to go backand write the script and get his
job back at the conveniencestore and so, yeah, I mean that
gets us to 1992.
Jennifer Coronado (12:04):
But you and Kevin didn't.
I mean, this is kind of afamous story, but you guys
didn't quite vibe at first,right.
Scott Mosier (12:09):
On a surface level more than anything.
Like I was, I was very.
I was a pretty boy.
I'd look like come from LA.
I had like gel in my hair and Ididn't have a beard then Were
you super tan.
I was probably pretty tan atthat point.
I was still probably tan, but Iwas like I had a big leather
(12:31):
jacket.
I was definitely like I waslabeled a 90210 kind of person,
wow, and he was like wearing atrench coat and like had a kind
of a mullet and it was.
You know, it was likedefinitely like East Coast, west
Coast kind of clash on thesurface and then we ended up in
(12:54):
a group together and Film Threatcame up and that was basically
it From there.
It was like what we had incommon or what we wanted out of
this or what we were thinkingabout doing.
Next we were immediately on thesame page and on top of that it
(13:20):
was really like ourrelationship is really founded a
lot in making each other laugh.
We got in trouble for talkingtoo much because we would just
always be yeah, like we werebrought into a room.
We're like really Like, isn'tthat our problem when we don't
want to pay attention, likewe're paying you.
Jennifer Coronado (13:34):
We're adults, yeah.
Scott Mosier (13:36):
Yeah, it's like if we leave here and we don't know
shit, it's like why is thatyour problem?
You know, and we weren'tdisruptive.
It wasn't like we were classclowns or anything.
We just I mean, maybe we were alittle, we would just talk all
the time and like, try to makeeach other laugh and draw a
little, draw stuff.
And you know, we were both, webonded because neither of us
(13:57):
were very good students.
But yeah, that was, that was weyeah the initial moment was more
like sizing somebody up fromjust on the surface.
From on the surface.
We were not fans of each otherat the beginning.
Jennifer Coronado (14:09):
You both went to film school.
You know he left early.
But when you went to filmschool, were you like I'm going
to be a producer?
Or were you like I'm going tobe a director?
Like how did how did your rolesalign?
How did he end up in thedirector role and you ended up
in the producing role?
Scott Mosier (14:24):
I definitely went there to be a director, writer,
director, just like you know.
I mean Dave didn't.
Dave went to be a DP.
There's a bunch of jobs in thisbusiness where no one goes to
film school to do them.
You sort of end up there and bythe time I'm done with school
he's written the script.
But the deal was like you writea script, I'll write, write a
script, and then we'll produceeach other's movies.
(14:44):
Like that was our big plan andso I was.
I was a dolly grip on a short Iwas working on like they were
shooting all night and I wasworking all day and I was just
sort of sleeping in my car inbetween and he sent me.
It was called inconvenience andso I read his script, which I
hadn't had time or done mine,like I can tell the story
(15:06):
looking back, but I rememberreading it.
Going like this is reallyfucking funny and.
I can't do this.
You know, it's like two peopleshow up with scripts and it's
like I was like I wasintimidated in a good way, which
I was like I can't do this.
And the reason I couldn't isbecause Kevin had been writing
for a long, long time, you know,since he was a kid, he wanted
(15:29):
to be a writer.
He wanted to be a writer onSaturday Night Live.
He'd written a novel.
By the time I meet him, he'dalready written a novel.
He'd written tons of sketchesand skits.
And so he shows up and says,okay, this is my version of a
script which was funny andexciting and it was a movie, and
I had sort of been writingstuff, but I was like I can't, I
(15:51):
don't have a voice.
Basically, the easiest way toput it is like, you know, he had
a voice and it was very clearwhen you read the script and I
was like, oh wow, I'm like Ilike many, many, many miles away
from this.
And so the plan was to make thatfirst we shoot the movie and
(16:12):
then we just did.
You know, there was like threeor four of us in the crew and so
I was recording sound and I waseditor, and you know we were
just taking on whatever roles wehad to, but I was never so me
becoming a producer is.
We're driving up editor and,you know, taking on you.
We were just taking on whateverroles we had to, but I was
never so me becoming a produceris we're driving up to to new
york city to drop off the titlesto the optical house because we
(16:34):
were going to shoot him andkevin, I'm driving his car and
he's on, he's in the passengerseat and he's writing out the
thank yous and all this stuffand he writes, he goes do you
want to be a producer?
And I was like sure, and thenthe industry absorbs you as
those roles.
And so that was it.
That was really.
(16:54):
I didn't really have anintention to be a producer, I
just wanted to make films.
I, oddly, am not that differentnow.
Jennifer Coronado (17:04):
Yeah, kevin, was that light in your face.
Again he was at the top of thestairs.
Again he was the you want to bea producer and you're like,
yeah yeah, and I, you know, Iwas 21, 20, 21 I was really
young and and um I was like whatam I?
Scott Mosier (17:20):
going to do and I didn't have this deep sense of,
oh, I'm going to write thisbrilliant script.
Like I said, working with Kevinwas intimidating in a good way,
in the sense of if you're notat this level, then you need to
either start practicing a lot orjust sort of let it be
(17:43):
practicing a lot or just sort oflet it be.
And so, yeah, the producingthing was I'm not trying to find
the words it just wasn'tplanned, it wasn't.
I didn't have a plan.
I really loved movies and andpossibly, possibly, uh, to my
(18:05):
career, career's detriment, I'venever had a plan Like I really
have never had a plan, and ifyou really look at it, it
doesn't seem that well thoughtout.
Jennifer Coronado (18:13):
Do you see producing?
Do you see that as a creativeendeavor or do you see it as
something that's supporting acreative endeavor?
Scott Mosier (18:21):
It's an interesting question because
when people ask what is aproducer it's like, the answer
is many things.
There are people who are verymuch more money, more like
hardline budgets and schedulesand keeping things on track, and
(18:42):
then there are sort of moregenerally creative producers.
I was really a creativeproducer, creative producer, and
(19:02):
for me the job in that instanceis to understand the intent of
the person you're making.
If you're producing their movie, your job is to kind of try to
adapt and learn what theirintent is, and then the
guardrails of that I think youhave to adapt.
I believe that, like you don'thave to cause.
(19:22):
There's plenty of producers arejust like it's their show and,
like you know, like that's it.
And, like with Kevin, it wasmore like oh, I understand what
he wants to do and I understand.
You know, we shared a sense ofhumor, so it was easy to sort of
throw out jokes, but I wasalways trying to figure out like
, oh, what is he trying to do?
(19:43):
And then, based on that, how doI support what he's doing?
And at times, maybe even remindhim like, well, I mean, you
know, maybe we don't go that faror maybe we don't do this
because it's not necessarilyfitting inside of what you're
trying to do.
And even now, when I work onstuff that I'm EPing or working
(20:04):
on, I really am trying tounderstand what the filmmakers
want to do.
So my job can be more helpfulto be somebody who's like there
to help them figure out whatthey're trying to do, versus
imposing my taste, creative work.
A lot of it's taste right Likea lot of you know, some of those
(20:27):
initial moments are like if youwatch people all the time, it's
like people put things in frontof you and it's like your first
expression is taste.
It's just like oh, I like it, Idon't like it, I like blue, I
don't like blue, like you know,it's like all those, like sort
of little teeny things, and forme it's important to have taste,
(20:49):
taste.
But as a producer, if you'rejust imposing taste, I think
that's how movies can go awry.
Because if you're making amovie and it's somebody's vision
, I believe you have to take astep back from your taste and
really try to understand thetaste of the people that you're
(21:10):
making the movie for.
Because there's movies that youknow it's like not every movie
I made with Kevin I was 100%,you know, on the same page with
them.
But you know it's not my job totry to grab the steering wheel
while we're in the middle ofdriving and be like I want to go
this way.
It's like no, no, no.
You need to commit to the pointof view and it doesn't mean that
(21:32):
you can't render an opinion,but I still think you have to
filter it in a different waythan if it's something that say,
I'm directing or writing andthen it's like, yeah, it's my
taste, it's my opinion, it'slike, you know, I don't need to
move away from that.
That's the basis of everythingI do when I'm producing for
Kevin.
The basis of what I do isgenerally not me just showing up
(21:56):
, you know, with all my tasteand dumping it on the table and
be like, well, I think this andI think that, like I sort of
take a more of a supportive role, it's sort of the difference
between what collaboration meansand what making things by
committee right.
Movies by committee.
I generally, I generally find,you know, I used to do re-edits
(22:16):
and you'd be like oh, everyonegave their opinion and their
taste and then the editor didall 10 things.
And then you watch the movieand you're like all right, well,
it's all 10 things, it's notone thing, it's like a, it's
like a bad, uh potl dinner.
You know where you're going,like oh okay, like taquitos, and
(22:39):
you know like Marshmallow salad.
Yeah, like you're just like allright, everybody brought what
they liked.
But collectively you're likethis is kind of the grossest
meal I've ever seen in my life,like there's nothing coherent
about it.
And you're just like, oh,that's interesting, and movies
can become that and you knowthem when you see them.
We're just like, wow, this isnot a thing, it's just a hundred
(23:00):
things stitched together.
So all these people could sortof feel happy about having a
thing inside of it, but now it'snot a thing and it will never
exist as a thing.
And I think that's why, you know, work in the business it's like
the auteur driven movie is soum, appealing or or exciting,
(23:23):
because it's sort of it negatesthat it's.
It's like okay, this person hasa vision and sometimes it works
and sometimes it doesn't.
You know, and I think there'smovies that are also big budget,
movies that are have acommittee but still manage to
create something.
That's that's singular.
(23:44):
You know, barbie's an example.
Like that's a very big movieand, and I'm sure there's a lot,
there's a lot of people, butyou don't leave the movie going
like, oh, greta Gerwig gotswallowed and doesn't exist in
the movie, like you are like oh,like she probably had to
compromise here or there, butalso like they did back her and
(24:07):
it makes a difference.
I think, like most of what getscelebrated or the films that get
celebrated are the ones thatmanage to do that, you know that
manage to have that feelingwell, they're the films that
actually create the franchises,aren't they?
Jennifer Coronado (24:21):
I think that's what we forget.
Like a franchise comes intobeing, an original idea may made
it very cool and now you cancreate other ideas based off
that idea first, and butsometimes it gets so distant
from the original idea thatyou're like what is this now?
Scott Mosier (24:37):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's like how many levels
removed from it.
Like, for me, a lot of peoplein the business don't know how
to distinguish between theirtaste and what is actually the
right thing for the movie.
Like, I would never do this,you know what I mean.
Like I could sit there and lookat things and say I would never
(24:58):
make this choice, I would neverdo that or go that far, or et
cetera, et cetera.
But you have to stop and saylike, but is that just my taste?
Like, if that's just my taste,then like, but does that fit in
the movie?
And you're like, yeah, in thismovie, yeah, it's like.
You know you can go that far.
And I mean now I'll go off on alittle tangent but taste also
(25:19):
creates the painful changes thathappen in this business.
The amount of lateral movesthat you watch happen where
you're just like holy shit, wejust worked all weekend for you
know, like 18 hours a day tochange this from A to B and it
is nothing, Like it doesn'tchange, it's different.
(25:44):
Right, it's that thing of like,is it better or different?
And a lot of times taste to mecreate different.
Jennifer Coronado (25:51):
Yeah, I think you're right.
Scott Mosier (25:53):
And it's hard, because when you're in a this
business, it's like you can tendto be like your taste is
everything.
You know that your taste isyour, your currency, and it is
on some level.
It is on some level, but then Ithink like it goes beyond that
and your ability to separateyourself from being like well
this is once again is it better,is it different?
(26:15):
If it's just different, thendon't drive people crazy, like
just sort of relax, you know.
Jennifer Coronado (26:22):
Well, you, you went from clerks, which was
like $27,000 budget, to mallrats, which was a grammar C
pictures, and it was like $6million, and at that time you
talked about how this is yourfirst major movie and you're
expecting to get beat up andkicked around.
So why did you have thatexpectation and what was the
actual reality of that?
Scott Mosier (26:44):
I think that I didn't know anything.
You know, I I was, we were, wewere really young.
I was 20, like 23 ish, and wewere really young, I was 20,
like 23-ish, and so I was reallyyoung.
I didn't know, like I did notknow anything, like I didn't
know how to do a budget, Ididn't know what fringes were.
I didn't know any of that stuffbecause we never did any of it.
(27:06):
Like if I looked on a call sheet, I'd be like I don't know what
half these people do.
So, walking into it, I was justlike this is going to be tough
because there's you know,there's imposter syndrome.
There's a million sort ofthings that come into that
moment.
But we were all really youngand somebody opens the door and
goes like all right, like here'syour dream, go do it.
And so you're filled withanxiety and stress and and a
(27:30):
sense of oh my God, are we goingto fuck this up?
All of that's looming over yourhead all the time the fear of
being found out for years, likejust keep going, because they're
going to catch us.
They're going to be like whatthe who let you in here.
Jennifer Coronado (27:47):
Why are they giving us money, man?
Scott Mosier (27:48):
Well, I just.
It was more like it's like yougot led into a party and then
suddenly, and then it's likeyou're just waiting for somebody
to be like hey, man, we didn'tinvite you.
Like, put the dip down, get outof here.
We're just waiting for theother shoe to drop for a while
like for years and years andyears.
(28:09):
And then the reality was it wastough.
You you know all that sort ofuncertainty and but I had an
amazing line producer.
There was an amazing lineproducer on the movie named
laura greenlee and she Iremember just sitting down there
and going like I don't know howI can help.
I was a co-producer at thatpoint and then they may bump me
(28:30):
up to produce her by the end andI was, you know, I was like
game to do anything, but I justdidn't know anything.
And I remember telling her thatI was like I don't know
anything.
I was like I don't know how tohelp you.
And she was very like I'llteach you whatever you want.
She's like if you want to learn, she goes, but your job is to
to your job.
It's like you know we're allhere because you guys made a
(28:51):
movie that did really well andhas a cult following and like
your job is to just sort of bewith Kevin and be his right hand
man and be with him throughthis.
Because it was.
We were way over our heads.
I mean there's no, we shouldhave never made a movie at that
budget, like at that time, right, like you only understand
(29:15):
conceptually how to spend thatkind of money, but then
practically you just don't endup doing it.
You know, and and if chasingAmy is more of the movie we
should have made, second right,which is the budget's, like a
million ish all in, you knowit's taking what we did before
and sort of giving us justenough more to sort of keep
(29:38):
pushing.
It was after chasing amy where Ikind of that was the movie
where I kind of found myconfidence in what I was doing.
That was the first movie I waslike, oh, I'm a, I'm a pretty
like I produced this movie.
Like not even on clark's,really I didn't have that sort
of sense because I, it wasn't it, you know, it was just kind of
us all running around doingstuff.
(29:59):
But this was the first time Iwas like, oh, I produced this
movie, I did this.
And then you know, from then onI, you know, still there's an
element of doom that you feelwhen you not everybody, but
there's always an element oflike, oh, what the fuck?
You know, what can go wrong isalways in your mind and you're
(30:19):
sort of just prepping feverishlyto eliminate as many things
that can go wrong as possible,knowing that something still
will go wrong.
But you're like, oh, we can getrid of the easy stuff, we can
get rid of these 10 sort ofreally obvious things.
Then we'll be ready for thesurprises when they come up.
Jennifer Coronado (30:39):
You had said earlier in your career that you
used to take things personally.
Scott Mosier (30:43):
Yes.
Jennifer Coronado (30:44):
Do you still feel that way or I mean,
everybody does, we're all human,but do you still take things as
personally as you did when youwere?
Scott Mosier (30:52):
early on in your career.
No, no, no, no, I don't.
I have moments, but it's morelike fleeting, you know, and I
think I have the, the awarenessand the distance to be like, why
are you taking this personally?
Like that's has nothing to dowith you, but that back then it
was like, yeah, I tookeverything really personally
(31:12):
because we were young and Ithink you had this.
I had this sense of sense of.
I had a sense that I was beingevaluated constantly, because
when you don't know something,or when you feel like you don't
know that much, there is anawareness like, oh, everybody's
watching, which is a story tooright, like that's not true,
everybody was.
But I was always like, oh,everybody's watching me, waiting
(31:35):
for me to screw up, or whatever.
But I was always like, oh,everybody's watching me waiting
for me to screw up, or whatever.
So I think part of takingthings personally is that if you
have the anxiety or the stresswhich I had of trying to do a
good job but not necessarilyknowing how to do it, that
little gap creates taking thingspersonally.
Jennifer Coronado (31:56):
Another thing you had said earlier in your
career and you sort of talkedabout this a little bit earlier
was I'm not really a writer.
But then you went on to writeScreenplace and an animated
feature called Freebirds.
How do you make that shiftmentally and how did you find
that opportunity?
Scott Mosier (32:10):
I was into writing .
It was still something I wasexcited about.
So I'd written like maybe onescript or so during my whole
tenure with Kevin and then,after Zack and Mary Make a Porno
, I decided to stop producingand I wanted to go into
(32:32):
animation.
But I also wanted to take astab at writing.
So the first thing I do thatyear that first year is I wrote
two specs, um, and then thosegot me a job on a friend of mine
, a guy I met named joe casey,who worked on ultimate
spider-man, a cartoon on disneyplus.
(32:53):
Um, he had read this actionscript I wrote and he was like,
do you want to write an episode?
And I was like, yeah, sure, ofcourse.
And he was like, look, if youtotally fuck it up, he goes,
I'll just rewrite it, it's fine.
And well, that's the faith of afriend, right and, uh, you get
(33:13):
an outline and you have likethree days to bang out a draft
and I had no context foranything.
So I was like, yeah, of course.
And so I did like five or sixof those, like you know,
everyone was happy, and so theykept feeding them to me.
I kept writing scripts, I wrotea couple more and then
(33:33):
Freebirds came up, which wascalled Turkeys, which I was not
hired to write it, I was justhired to come on as the creative
producer and that was really myfriend, aaron Warner, who
produced all the Shreks, hadtaken over at Real Effects, the
studio, and they had a moviecalled Turkeys at the time and
he was like you know, I need aproducer and he goes.
(33:54):
If you want to learn animation,like, learn animation, I'll
throw you on the deep end onthis.
And I was like sure.
So I dove in and the writingwas more a byproduct of the
intense and crazy schedule onthat movie.
So I would work all day andthen I would write for hours and
(34:15):
hours and hours at night untillike 3 in the morning.
I'd write pages and stuff andit was more of a void and I just
started filling it and partlybecause I enjoyed it.
You know I was really.
I was into it and I liked thechallenge of it, and so by the
time I finished that it was apretty brutal schedule.
So I didn't know if I was goingto do animation again.
(34:35):
I was kind of like I don't knowif I want to do it.
And then I was editing.
In between I was also a pictureeditor, so I was like, oh, I'll
get a job.
And on a real practical level,to get my health care back, I
immediately went out and didlike two or three jobs in a row
and that's when um chrismelandandri from illumination
had called because a guy namedbrian lynch, who a writer, he
(35:00):
was the craft service guy onChasing Amy.
He was from that part of NewJersey and we'd always kept in
touch, yeah, and he alwayswanted to write and he was a
prolific, really prolific writer.
He had been in LA for a whileand he'd started working with
Illumination and he wrote thefirst Minions.
And so he mentioned me to Chrisbecause they were doubling or
(35:25):
they were increasing theirproductions, so they were going
to try to do more movies and theGrinch was like the one that
was the farthest out.
There was Pets and Sing.
And so he got in touch with meand I was editing across the
street in Santa Monica and Iremember going like I don't know
, I'm just that I don't knowabout animation and the
(35:46):
directors, the Dowdles, thesetwo brothers from Minnesota.
It was a movie called well, it'scalled the Coup.
It was like Owen Wilson andLake Bell and Pierce Brosnan.
It was a really fun thrillerand I hadn't caught a thriller
so I was excited about it.
It ended up being called noEscape or something, because
(36:08):
when we test screened iteveryone was like what's a coop?
Like, why is it called the Coop?
And I was like all right, allright okay.
And then the director was justlike he's right across the
fucking street, like All right,okay.
And then the director was justlike he's right across the
fucking street, like don't be ababy, just go over there and
talk to him.
So I went and talked to Chrisand was very honest.
I was like I don't know.
I was like I had a roughexperience on the last one and
(36:39):
then we talked for like probablysix or seven months and just
kept having meetings.
And then I was brought on asthe producer of the grinch and
and then became the director andand so I didn't really write a
ton during that process and then, when it was done, we're in
paris and you know I, you knowit's like a visual effects
schedule, it's like you're inthe crucible and like delivering
, like like you're kind of atthe top of the peer of the grid
and you're like holy crap,you're working non-stop.
(37:01):
And then suddenly it just fallsprecipitously where it's like
suddenly there's not that manyshots in animation and like you
go from working 14 hours a dayto three, and so I'm in paris
kind of wandering around, and Iremember Garth, uh, who directed
Sing uh, we were at lunch andhe was like, just, you know, go
(37:25):
out and take your notebook andjust go go to these cafe.
He gave me some cafes that heliked and I was like, all right,
I'm gonna start to do that.
So I was wandering around and,um, wondering what I was gonna
do next, and I knew I was reallylike, well, what's left?
Was my big question.
You know, I was sitting theregoing like produce all these
movies for Kevin, which was anamazing experience and, you know
(37:48):
, like a career, like I had afull career.
You know that what I did withhim, and then I'd sort of throw
my hat over the wall.
I was like I'm going to directan animated movie and so, you
know, here I was in this.
You know, next plateau where Iwas like, oh, I did that, okay,
and it kind of came back to thisthe kid or the person who
(38:10):
really started out.
I was like I want to like tryto write my own ideas, like
that's what I'm excited about.
Jennifer Coronado (38:19):
I want to talk to you about two things now
, as we get close to wrapping up, and the first thing is what
project have you done thatyou're really proud of, but it
didn't get the attention thatyou would have liked?
Scott Mosier (38:27):
There's a few.
Now.
I know every time I startsomething that there's no
guarantee anyone's ever going tomake it or sell it, or but it's
still you, still.
You know, for me there's stillan incredible amount of value in
in the exploration of thosethings, because you know you're
working through stuff, you knowyou are just exploring yourself
(38:52):
through all this stuff andusually after the fact, like I'm
not, I don't sit down and writesomething specifically going
like oh, I want to work throughX or this is representative of
that.
It's more that you pour yourselfinto the thing and then when
you read it later on you're likeoh, like, that's me, you know,
(39:15):
dealing with this or processingthis or expressing this part of
myself.
So even in the world wherethings don't sort of sell, my
thoughts always like well, thefirst level of value comes from
you loving what you did andunderstanding why you did it.
Then, of course, the next dayI'm like well, I fucking want to
(39:38):
make it so, like, but still youhave to take a moment to be
like oh, the value, like I'veextracted value in it.
That's why, like, there's justcertain things that I can't sort
of do, because I'm like, if ithas a personal meaning to me,
then, whether people like it ornot, or want to do it or not,
doesn't affect me in the sameway.
(40:00):
Like I've pitched things where Iwas more sort of you know,
bending what it was to otherpeople's sort of expectations or
needs, and then we pitched itand everyone said no.
And I remember feeling likeshit'm.
Now it's in my head like if I,if I do exactly what I want to
(40:22):
do and everyone just says no, itdoesn't stick with me.
I never sit there and go like,well, maybe if you've done this
or maybe you've done that, likeI'm always like how do I
eliminate that?
I want to know that everythingI put into this I did exactly
what I wanted, and if peopledon't want it, people don't want
it.
But I got what I wanted out ofit and I'm excited about it.
Jennifer Coronado (40:49):
For someone who said he wasn't very good at
school.
You sure have spent a lot oftime educating yourself on
things throughout your careerand your life, so you should
give yourself a little morecredit, I think.
Scott Mosier (41:00):
I'm still terrible at school.
I love learning.
I just think they're twoseparate things.
I want to learn at my own pace.
It's like going to exerciseclass.
I'm like I want to do it at 10.
And if I have to do it at fivefor everybody else going to do
it at 10.
And if I have to do it at fivefor everybody else, I'm out Like
(41:21):
I'm not going to do it.
It's interesting because youthink about school and you're
like sometimes I'm just like,yeah, I was bored, some of it
was just boring, some of it Ididn't want to learn, you know,
and I don't think that that'sweird.
There's just classes where Iwas like this is boring and I
know that, like as a kid, you'rejust like, well, I'm never
going to use this or thosethings kind of come out and then
you're an adult and like youtry to pretend that's not true,
(41:42):
but it's true.
I learn more at my own pace.
I read a lot, even working withall of you and coming there, I
loved it because I was like, oh,I get to throw down and get in
a room with a bunch of peopleand learn, but also sort of like
understand and try to becomepart of the conversation.
(42:07):
I had the same thing with sound.
Like I remember we did dogmaskywalker and that was our first
like big sound mix and Iremember distinctly being like
what is this all about?
Like how do I learn more aboutthis so I can actually be in the
conversation?
You know, and part of it is asan artist, I think, when you're
(42:28):
on the receiving end, like I'vebeen an editor and sat there in
rooms or it's like I don't know,it's just something wrong and
I'm like all right, like I'll doit, like I can maybe figure it
out.
But I always am like I want tobe able to be a part of the
conversation in a meaningful way, like I want to be able to like
express myself, so artistsaren't just all walking away
(42:50):
going like oh jesus, like whatthe fuck are we doing?
If I can say, the one thingabout creativity over the last
few years that I've sort of cometo understand is that I have no
idea where it comes from.
A lot of the ideas that I haveor the things that spring into
(43:12):
my mind are just sort of arrive,and I think part of it is being
open, you know.
Part of it is like you have toopen yourself up to that.
But I do think that like it'smore about being in a state of
mind than it is doing anexercise is one thing that I
(43:34):
think I try to impart to people.
Like it's not about like, oh,just do A, b and then you'll
have a good idea.
It's like you know.
I mean some of it's just likebe bored, be sort of just like.
You know, when we were kids wecame up.
I mean, when we were kids wejust came up with tons of shit
and it was because we were bored.
And you know, sometimes, likeright now I'm too busy, so I'm
(43:56):
not in a receptive mode, I'mmore in an output mode.
But I'm always coming back tobeing like how can I create the
space to just be in receptivemode, which is really just
laying around and staring atceilings and sort of walking
around and doing stuff that'ssort of not on the surface
(44:20):
doesn't seem very productive.
Alan Moore has this idea ofsomething called idea space,
where he thinks all these ideasare sort of like in a cloud.
He's like that's why people canindependently come up with the
wheel, or ideas will spring upall around the world at the same
time, because the idea is justit's their time to come, and I
(44:44):
think that's a reallyinteresting take on it and your
job is really just to connect tothat kind of space, which is
about being open and sort ofletting go of anxiety and worry
and just sort of relaxing andand open yourself up to whatever
weird wild ideas are going tocome in.
Jennifer Coronado (45:04):
Yeah, and sometimes I think it.
It comes from connecting justto your humanity and who you are
at a base level.
Scott Mosier (45:11):
Well, I think that's, I think that's, I think
it's the same thing.
I think it's like all you'resaying is like you just scrape
the business and the all, the,all the things that come with it
and the is it going to sell oris it not going to like all
these things that sort of comewith it?
It's like you have to stripthose away, and some of it is
just me going like, what do Iwant to watch?
Like, if you sit down, likewhat do you want to read?
(45:43):
What do you want to watch?
What?
Like?
What piece of art do you wantto look at?
Like you can do that betterthan you know.
That's the, that's yoursuperpower is like you can
actually figure out what youwant to see, and so really your
job is just to figure that outand then, you know, then sit
down and kind of start to make.
Jennifer Coronado (45:54):
I appreciate you taking time to meet with us.
Scott Mosier (45:59):
Of course.
Hopefully this fits inside ofwhat it's supposed to be.
I didn't go off on weirdtangents.
Jennifer Coronado (46:06):
Thank you for listening to Everyone Is.
Everyone Is is produced andedited by Chris Hawkinson,
executive producer is AaronDussault, music by Doug Infinite
.
Our logo and graphic design isby Harrison Parker and I am Jen
Coronado.
Everyone Is is a SlightlyDisappointed Productions
production, dropping every otherThursday.
Wherever podcasts are available, make sure to rate and review,
(46:28):
and maybe even like andsubscribe.
Thank you for listening.
To my career's detriment.
I didn't have a plan, I didn'treally have an intention to be a
producer, I just wanted to makefilms.
I, oddly, am not that differentnow.
Jennifer Coronado (00:14):
Hello and welcome to Everyone Is I am your
host, jennifer Coronado.
The intent of this show is toengage with all types of people
and build an understanding thatanyone who has any kind of
success has achieved thatsuccess because they are a
creative thinker.
So, whether you are an artistor a cook or an award-winning
journalist, everyone hassomething to contribute to the
(00:34):
human conversation.
And now, as they say, on withthe show, I think it's safe to
say that Scott Mosher is anindependent film icon.
From his early days workingwith Kevin Smith as a producer,
editor and the character ofWilliam the Idiot Manchild from
his first film, clerks, to hisrole as producer on several more
(00:58):
of Kevin's films, includingones like Mallrats and Dogma, he
has been a force.
He's also been a voice artist,a podcaster, a writer, a
director on the Grinch animatedfilm, and we're going to talk
about how he got there.
So welcome to Everyone Is ScottMosher.
Scott Mosier (01:13):
Thank you.
Thank you for calling out myrole as the idiot man-child that
I'd seem to, a shadow I seemnever able to escape.
Jennifer Coronado (01:23):
Well, I thought when I was reading
through your credits on that Iwas like I love all the little
because you played so manycharacters in so many films.
And I love the names of themand I know you played three
characters in Clerks, but thatwas the one that stood out to me
.
Scott Mosier (01:37):
I can't remember if that was a role where
somebody just didn't show upBecause we were all
non-professionals or friends,and so there was definitely
times where it was like like youplay that guy and then somebody
wouldn't show up.
And then it'd be like, allright, put on a hat and then put
on a voice for something and goplay another character, because
(01:57):
he wasn't really in the moviethat much, he was pretty much
just kind of there.
But then as soon as you startto play a character, then you're
oh, why don't you walk in anddo this?
I think I can't remember how.
I don't remember how we endedup.
Unfortunately, a lot of theanswers I'm going to give you
are like I don't remember.
That's okay, I don't rememberthe exact process.
Jennifer Coronado (02:18):
I sort of set the table of what you know,
what your career has been so far.
But I want to start with thechildhood of Scott and where did
you grow up?
And tell me a little bit aboutyour family and your growing up.
Scott Mosier (02:28):
I was born in Vancouver, washington, which is
just on the other side of theColumbia from Portland, and
that's really where all thefamilies were concentrated my
mother and father's big Swedishcommunity on my mother's side,
sort of a lot of people fromthat region moved to that part
(02:53):
of the Northwest and then myfather worked for a company
named Freightliner that buildslike sort of big 18 wheelers and
we lived around there until Iwas about five or six.
We lived in a little suburbanhouse and we ended up on like a
five acre little spread and likea.
It wasn't a farm, like itwasn't like farming stuff, but
we were on like five acres ofthe pond and the bus would drop
(03:16):
me off.
My mom would always say likeshe, just she could see me, like
it was a long driveway but it'dtake me like an hour to walk
home because I would just, youknow, grab a stick and run
around in the woods and justsort of meander my way.
And then we moved to Californiawhen I was five, to a suburb of
LA called Upland, near SanBernardino.
So we lived there until I waslike 10.
(03:38):
And this is all.
My dad's work was kind of sortof pushing us to move and then
there, and then we moved tovancouver, bc, or outside of
vancouver bc, um.
So my formative years werereally spent up in canada, um,
and and during that time, youknow, I I was always into art, I
(04:00):
liked movies when I was growingup, but like it didn't really
hit me till I got a little bitolder, like by the time I was in
my early teens.
I remember, you know, I had theonly poster I have in my office
is a kind of not a real posterof raiders of the lost ark, but
one that I found online.
I was, I really enjoyed movies,but that was the movie where I
(04:22):
was like, oh, I don't want to bean archaeologist, like the kid
version is.
Like't want to be anarchaeologist, like the kid
version is like I want to be anarchaeologist because we're
translating it literally, we'regoing like oh, that's what it's
like to be an archaeologistRight, like that looks super fun
.
But that was the first movie Iwatched and I think I was 12
where I really was made theconnection of like, oh, I want
(04:44):
to, I would like to make movies.
Jennifer Coronado (04:47):
Like when you're thinking about that, like
, oh, I want to make movies.
What was it about that?
Like did you?
How did you think movies weremade?
Like, what about it made youthink about?
Scott Mosier (04:58):
making it versus just watching it.
You know I enjoyed movies andart and comic books and I was
always, you know I was into allthat stuff.
But I think when I saw Raidersand I really loved it and I
still do, it's one of myfavorite movies of all time and
I got really swept up in it,like I kind of had gotten to the
point where my curiosity, orI'd just seen enough that in
(05:22):
that movie I was like I made theconnection, like I loved the
movie, and then I made theconnection of just like, oh well
, if I love the movie, howamazing would it be to actually
make it?
Now conceptually, like I didn'tunderstand all the elements
that went into making a movie orall the that sort of began
(05:45):
after that point.
It was very, it was moreabstract.
It was really just going like Iknow that that's a movie and I
know people made it I don'tnecessarily know how and so I
was reading magazines, books.
I remember by the time I got itwas like that first ILM book
(06:06):
that came out, because once Istarted examining and looking at
the process, I just watchedmaking of and like I really
started digging into it.
But that was the sort of thatwas the moment where the
connection between like likingmovies or loving movies, and
then, and then the desire to godo it.
(06:28):
And then the more I looked intoit, the more I was watching
things and the more it didn'tdissuade me.
It was like this is what I wantto do.
And and then I still watched alot of movies.
But once I, once I, graduatedhigh school, my grades were were
terrible.
I was a terrible.
I was a terrible.
I still am a terrible student.
(06:49):
I'd bomb my SATs.
And so when I left Canada to godown to California to go to
school, I got into this OrangeCoast College it was like a big
community college in OrangeCounty and I basically convinced
them that I'd moved fromCalifornia to Canada so I'd
never moved to another state.
It was, I don't know why, butthey gave me in-state tuition
(07:10):
and it was cheap and they had afilm program that was just like,
you know, like VHS to VHS, kindof like.
This is like 1989.
So this is late 89.
Jennifer Coronado (07:22):
Well, I want to ask you about that, because
you said you convinced themright.
Scott Mosier (07:26):
Yeah.
Jennifer Coronado (07:26):
You were what ?
18, 19 years old.
Scott Mosier (07:30):
I was 18.
Jennifer Coronado (07:31):
Yeah.
How do you go about convincingthem Like, was it your parents
helping you or was it you going?
Hey man, look, I deserve thisin-state tuition.
How did you do that?
Scott Mosier (07:40):
I wish it was this great moment.
It's like it really was mesitting there going like, like I
just come up with this argumentin my head of like I was like
well, I never left the state ofCalifornia, I moved out of the
country and now I'm back.
So it's like I never reallygave up my California state
residency.
And the person was kind ofnodding at me and I was like so,
(08:02):
technically, I was like I'mstill aifornia state resident,
my last united states address isin california.
And I just kept saying and thenthe I can't tell if the person
was just like yeah, but it waslike it wasn't.
Like they just were like allright, whatever, they like gave
me the stamp, like I just sortof I was.
I mean, my parents could haveafforded to if we had to to, but
(08:24):
I was really like because Idon't like.
I never liked going to school.
I was like I, I am the personwho should go to school as
cheaply as possible, like no oneshould spend a lot of money on
my education, because I getbored and and restless and and
don't go to class and all theseother things.
So I was always trying to keep.
(08:46):
My parents were very generousin helping me do it, but I was
always like I need to just go tothe cheapest schools possible.
I did that for about a year anda half.
I did it for a couple semesters.
My grades did not get anybetter.
There was a thing called UCLAExtension and so I moved up to
(09:09):
LA and started taking theseextension classes at night, like
in screenwriting and anythingmostly screenwriting.
I'd been away for a few yearsand then once my collegiate
career was going nowhere and soI remember there was the
Vancouver Film a, the vancouverfilm school.
Now I think it's primarilyanimation and vfx and stuff like
that, but at the time it wasjust a small film school and I
(09:33):
was in la and I was likeinterning for a producer and I
was taking night classes andthen I was the stockroom manager
at banana republic it and I'm areally good folder.
I fold all the laundry in thehouse because I did that job for
many, many years.
So my wife tends to just throwit all on the table.
Jennifer Coronado (09:54):
I was going to say do you have the folding
board?
Scott Mosier (09:56):
No, I don't need it because it was too slow.
I was like.
I just learned how to do it.
So then I was going to go toart school or film school.
I was really on the fencebecause I loved comic books and
I loved drawing comic books andI loved art.
And I was like so I'm 20 atthis point and I was like I got
(10:18):
to pick one or the other and Iused to run around the campus
and then sometimes I'd cutthrough the middle and I'd run
at night a lot, and so I wasrunning and I ran up the stairs.
When I got to the top of thestairs there was a really bright
light, like a blinding light,and I couldn't see that well.
So I kind of stopped to catchmyself because it was like right
(10:39):
in my face and when I, when myeyes adjusted, they were
shooting a movie and I was likeall right, like you know, that's
good enough, like that's enough, because I was really torn.
I was like so 50-50.
And like so many things in life, there's all this scientific
studies of decision making andit really is like most of the
(11:00):
time we just make decisions forthose reasons, for any reason.
Like we can spend six yearsdebating about something and
then we really just make thedecision in the last two minutes
and so I was like, all right,I'm going to go to film school.
I packed up and moved back toVancouver and I think I was in
(11:20):
school.
It was like three months fromthe moment that happened until I
was in class and that's when Imet Kevin.
So Kevin was in my class andthen one other person named Dave
Klein, who now is a.
He's a DP, like he's onMandalorian and Boba Fett, and
so he's like he.
He was younger than us but sohe he.
So all three of us met andKevin left.
(11:44):
It was an eight-month techschool and Kevin left after four
months and then Dave and I kindof stayed the whole time
because Kevin wanted to go backand write the script and get his
job back at the conveniencestore and so, yeah, I mean that
gets us to 1992.
Jennifer Coronado (12:04):
But you and Kevin didn't.
I mean, this is kind of afamous story, but you guys
didn't quite vibe at first,right.
Scott Mosier (12:09):
On a surface level more than anything.
Like I was, I was very.
I was a pretty boy.
I'd look like come from LA.
I had like gel in my hair and Ididn't have a beard then Were
you super tan.
I was probably pretty tan atthat point.
I was still probably tan, but Iwas like I had a big leather
(12:31):
jacket.
I was definitely like I waslabeled a 90210 kind of person,
wow, and he was like wearing atrench coat and like had a kind
of a mullet and it was.
You know, it was likedefinitely like East Coast, west
Coast kind of clash on thesurface and then we ended up in
(12:54):
a group together and Film Threatcame up and that was basically
it From there.
It was like what we had incommon or what we wanted out of
this or what we were thinkingabout doing.
Next we were immediately on thesame page and on top of that it
(13:20):
was really like ourrelationship is really founded a
lot in making each other laugh.
We got in trouble for talkingtoo much because we would just
always be yeah, like we werebrought into a room.
We're like really Like, isn'tthat our problem when we don't
want to pay attention, likewe're paying you.
Jennifer Coronado (13:34):
We're adults, yeah.
Scott Mosier (13:36):
Yeah, it's like if we leave here and we don't know
shit, it's like why is thatyour problem?
You know, and we weren'tdisruptive.
It wasn't like we were classclowns or anything.
We just I mean, maybe we were alittle, we would just talk all
the time and like, try to makeeach other laugh and draw a
little, draw stuff.
And you know, we were both, webonded because neither of us
(13:57):
were very good students.
But yeah, that was, that was weyeah the initial moment was more
like sizing somebody up fromjust on the surface.
From on the surface.
We were not fans of each otherat the beginning.
Jennifer Coronado (14:09):
You both went to film school.
You know he left early.
But when you went to filmschool, were you like I'm going
to be a producer?
Or were you like I'm going tobe a director?
Like how did how did your rolesalign?
How did he end up in thedirector role and you ended up
in the producing role?
Scott Mosier (14:24):
I definitely went there to be a director, writer,
director, just like you know.
I mean Dave didn't.
Dave went to be a DP.
There's a bunch of jobs in thisbusiness where no one goes to
film school to do them.
You sort of end up there and bythe time I'm done with school
he's written the script.
But the deal was like you writea script, I'll write, write a
script, and then we'll produceeach other's movies.
(14:44):
Like that was our big plan andso I was.
I was a dolly grip on a short Iwas working on like they were
shooting all night and I wasworking all day and I was just
sort of sleeping in my car inbetween and he sent me.
It was called inconvenience andso I read his script, which I
hadn't had time or done mine,like I can tell the story
(15:06):
looking back, but I rememberreading it.
Going like this is reallyfucking funny and.
I can't do this.
You know, it's like two peopleshow up with scripts and it's
like I was like I wasintimidated in a good way, which
I was like I can't do this.
And the reason I couldn't isbecause Kevin had been writing
for a long, long time, you know,since he was a kid, he wanted
(15:29):
to be a writer.
He wanted to be a writer onSaturday Night Live.
He'd written a novel.
By the time I meet him, he'dalready written a novel.
He'd written tons of sketchesand skits.
And so he shows up and says,okay, this is my version of a
script which was funny andexciting and it was a movie, and
I had sort of been writingstuff, but I was like I can't, I
(15:51):
don't have a voice.
Basically, the easiest way toput it is like, you know, he had
a voice and it was very clearwhen you read the script and I
was like, oh wow, I'm like Ilike many, many, many miles away
from this.
And so the plan was to make thatfirst we shoot the movie and
(16:12):
then we just did.
You know, there was like threeor four of us in the crew and so
I was recording sound and I waseditor, and you know we were
just taking on whatever roles wehad to, but I was never so me
becoming a producer is.
We're driving up editor and,you know, taking on you.
We were just taking on whateverroles we had to, but I was
never so me becoming a produceris we're driving up to to new
york city to drop off the titlesto the optical house because we
(16:34):
were going to shoot him andkevin, I'm driving his car and
he's on, he's in the passengerseat and he's writing out the
thank yous and all this stuffand he writes, he goes do you
want to be a producer?
And I was like sure, and thenthe industry absorbs you as
those roles.
And so that was it.
That was really.
(16:54):
I didn't really have anintention to be a producer, I
just wanted to make films.
I, oddly, am not that differentnow.
Jennifer Coronado (17:04):
Yeah, kevin, was that light in your face.
Again he was at the top of thestairs.
Again he was the you want to bea producer and you're like,
yeah yeah, and I, you know, Iwas 21, 20, 21 I was really
young and and um I was like whatam I?
Scott Mosier (17:20):
going to do and I didn't have this deep sense of,
oh, I'm going to write thisbrilliant script.
Like I said, working with Kevinwas intimidating in a good way,
in the sense of if you're notat this level, then you need to
either start practicing a lot orjust sort of let it be
(17:43):
practicing a lot or just sort oflet it be.
And so, yeah, the producingthing was I'm not trying to find
the words it just wasn'tplanned, it wasn't.
I didn't have a plan.
I really loved movies and andpossibly, possibly, uh, to my
(18:05):
career, career's detriment, I'venever had a plan Like I really
have never had a plan, and ifyou really look at it, it
doesn't seem that well thoughtout.
Jennifer Coronado (18:13):
Do you see producing?
Do you see that as a creativeendeavor or do you see it as
something that's supporting acreative endeavor?
Scott Mosier (18:21):
It's an interesting question because
when people ask what is aproducer it's like, the answer
is many things.
There are people who are verymuch more money, more like
hardline budgets and schedulesand keeping things on track, and
(18:42):
then there are sort of moregenerally creative producers.
I was really a creativeproducer, creative producer, and
(19:02):
for me the job in that instanceis to understand the intent of
the person you're making.
If you're producing their movie, your job is to kind of try to
adapt and learn what theirintent is, and then the
guardrails of that I think youhave to adapt.
I believe that, like you don'thave to cause.
(19:22):
There's plenty of producers arejust like it's their show and,
like you know, like that's it.
And, like with Kevin, it wasmore like oh, I understand what
he wants to do and I understand.
You know, we shared a sense ofhumor, so it was easy to sort of
throw out jokes, but I wasalways trying to figure out like
, oh, what is he trying to do?
(19:43):
And then, based on that, how doI support what he's doing?
And at times, maybe even remindhim like, well, I mean, you
know, maybe we don't go that faror maybe we don't do this
because it's not necessarilyfitting inside of what you're
trying to do.
And even now, when I work onstuff that I'm EPing or working
(20:04):
on, I really am trying tounderstand what the filmmakers
want to do.
So my job can be more helpfulto be somebody who's like there
to help them figure out whatthey're trying to do, versus
imposing my taste, creative work.
A lot of it's taste right Likea lot of you know, some of those
(20:27):
initial moments are like if youwatch people all the time, it's
like people put things in frontof you and it's like your first
expression is taste.
It's just like oh, I like it, Idon't like it, I like blue, I
don't like blue, like you know,it's like all those, like sort
of little teeny things, and forme it's important to have taste,
(20:49):
taste.
But as a producer, if you'rejust imposing taste, I think
that's how movies can go awry.
Because if you're making amovie and it's somebody's vision
, I believe you have to take astep back from your taste and
really try to understand thetaste of the people that you're
(21:10):
making the movie for.
Because there's movies that youknow it's like not every movie
I made with Kevin I was 100%,you know, on the same page with
them.
But you know it's not my job totry to grab the steering wheel
while we're in the middle ofdriving and be like I want to go
this way.
It's like no, no, no.
You need to commit to the pointof view and it doesn't mean that
(21:32):
you can't render an opinion,but I still think you have to
filter it in a different waythan if it's something that say,
I'm directing or writing andthen it's like, yeah, it's my
taste, it's my opinion, it'slike, you know, I don't need to
move away from that.
That's the basis of everythingI do when I'm producing for
Kevin.
The basis of what I do isgenerally not me just showing up
(21:56):
, you know, with all my tasteand dumping it on the table and
be like, well, I think this andI think that, like I sort of
take a more of a supportive role, it's sort of the difference
between what collaboration meansand what making things by
committee right.
Movies by committee.
I generally, I generally find,you know, I used to do re-edits
(22:16):
and you'd be like oh, everyonegave their opinion and their
taste and then the editor didall 10 things.
And then you watch the movieand you're like all right, well,
it's all 10 things, it's notone thing, it's like a, it's
like a bad, uh potl dinner.
You know where you're going,like oh okay, like taquitos, and
(22:39):
you know like Marshmallow salad.
Yeah, like you're just like allright, everybody brought what
they liked.
But collectively you're likethis is kind of the grossest
meal I've ever seen in my life,like there's nothing coherent
about it.
And you're just like, oh,that's interesting, and movies
can become that and you knowthem when you see them.
We're just like, wow, this isnot a thing, it's just a hundred
(23:00):
things stitched together.
So all these people could sortof feel happy about having a
thing inside of it, but now it'snot a thing and it will never
exist as a thing.
And I think that's why, you know, work in the business it's like
the auteur driven movie is soum, appealing or or exciting,
(23:23):
because it's sort of it negatesthat it's.
It's like okay, this person hasa vision and sometimes it works
and sometimes it doesn't.
You know, and I think there'smovies that are also big budget,
movies that are have acommittee but still manage to
create something.
That's that's singular.
(23:44):
You know, barbie's an example.
Like that's a very big movieand, and I'm sure there's a lot,
there's a lot of people, butyou don't leave the movie going
like, oh, greta Gerwig gotswallowed and doesn't exist in
the movie, like you are like oh,like she probably had to
compromise here or there, butalso like they did back her and
(24:07):
it makes a difference.
I think, like most of what getscelebrated or the films that get
celebrated are the ones thatmanage to do that, you know that
manage to have that feelingwell, they're the films that
actually create the franchises,aren't they?
Jennifer Coronado (24:21):
I think that's what we forget.
Like a franchise comes intobeing, an original idea may made
it very cool and now you cancreate other ideas based off
that idea first, and butsometimes it gets so distant
from the original idea thatyou're like what is this now?
Scott Mosier (24:37):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's like how many levels
removed from it.
Like, for me, a lot of peoplein the business don't know how
to distinguish between theirtaste and what is actually the
right thing for the movie.
Like, I would never do this,you know what I mean.
Like I could sit there and lookat things and say I would never
(24:58):
make this choice, I would neverdo that or go that far, or et
cetera, et cetera.
But you have to stop and saylike, but is that just my taste?
Like, if that's just my taste,then like, but does that fit in
the movie?
And you're like, yeah, in thismovie, yeah, it's like.
You know you can go that far.
And I mean now I'll go off on alittle tangent but taste also
(25:19):
creates the painful changes thathappen in this business.
The amount of lateral movesthat you watch happen where
you're just like holy shit, wejust worked all weekend for you
know, like 18 hours a day tochange this from A to B and it
is nothing, Like it doesn'tchange, it's different.
(25:44):
Right, it's that thing of like,is it better or different?
And a lot of times taste to mecreate different.
Jennifer Coronado (25:51):
Yeah, I think you're right.
Scott Mosier (25:53):
And it's hard, because when you're in a this
business, it's like you can tendto be like your taste is
everything.
You know that your taste isyour, your currency, and it is
on some level.
It is on some level, but then Ithink like it goes beyond that
and your ability to separateyourself from being like well
this is once again is it better,is it different?
(26:15):
If it's just different, thendon't drive people crazy, like
just sort of relax, you know.
Jennifer Coronado (26:22):
Well, you, you went from clerks, which was
like $27,000 budget, to mallrats, which was a grammar C
pictures, and it was like $6million, and at that time you
talked about how this is yourfirst major movie and you're
expecting to get beat up andkicked around.
So why did you have thatexpectation and what was the
actual reality of that?
Scott Mosier (26:44):
I think that I didn't know anything.
You know, I I was, we were, wewere really young.
I was 20, like 23 ish, and wewere really young, I was 20,
like 23-ish, and so I was reallyyoung.
I didn't know, like I did notknow anything, like I didn't
know how to do a budget, Ididn't know what fringes were.
I didn't know any of that stuffbecause we never did any of it.
(27:06):
Like if I looked on a call sheet, I'd be like I don't know what
half these people do.
So, walking into it, I was justlike this is going to be tough
because there's you know,there's imposter syndrome.
There's a million sort ofthings that come into that
moment.
But we were all really youngand somebody opens the door and
goes like all right, like here'syour dream, go do it.
And so you're filled withanxiety and stress and and a
(27:30):
sense of oh my God, are we goingto fuck this up?
All of that's looming over yourhead all the time the fear of
being found out for years, likejust keep going, because they're
going to catch us.
They're going to be like whatthe who let you in here.
Jennifer Coronado (27:47):
Why are they giving us money, man?
Scott Mosier (27:48):
Well, I just.
It was more like it's like yougot led into a party and then
suddenly, and then it's likeyou're just waiting for somebody
to be like hey, man, we didn'tinvite you.
Like, put the dip down, get outof here.
We're just waiting for theother shoe to drop for a while
like for years and years andyears.
(28:09):
And then the reality was it wastough.
You you know all that sort ofuncertainty and but I had an
amazing line producer.
There was an amazing lineproducer on the movie named
laura greenlee and she Iremember just sitting down there
and going like I don't know howI can help.
I was a co-producer at thatpoint and then they may bump me
(28:30):
up to produce her by the end andI was, you know, I was like
game to do anything, but I justdidn't know anything.
And I remember telling her thatI was like I don't know
anything.
I was like I don't know how tohelp you.
And she was very like I'llteach you whatever you want.
She's like if you want to learn, she goes, but your job is to
to your job.
It's like you know we're allhere because you guys made a
(28:51):
movie that did really well andhas a cult following and like
your job is to just sort of bewith Kevin and be his right hand
man and be with him throughthis.
Because it was.
We were way over our heads.
I mean there's no, we shouldhave never made a movie at that
budget, like at that time, right, like you only understand
(29:15):
conceptually how to spend thatkind of money, but then
practically you just don't endup doing it.
You know, and and if chasingAmy is more of the movie we
should have made, second right,which is the budget's, like a
million ish all in, you knowit's taking what we did before
and sort of giving us justenough more to sort of keep
(29:38):
pushing.
It was after chasing amy where Ikind of that was the movie
where I kind of found myconfidence in what I was doing.
That was the first movie I waslike, oh, I'm a, I'm a pretty
like I produced this movie.
Like not even on clark's,really I didn't have that sort
of sense because I, it wasn't it, you know, it was just kind of
us all running around doingstuff.
(29:59):
But this was the first time Iwas like, oh, I produced this
movie, I did this.
And then you know, from then onI, you know, still there's an
element of doom that you feelwhen you not everybody, but
there's always an element oflike, oh, what the fuck?
You know, what can go wrong isalways in your mind and you're
(30:19):
sort of just prepping feverishlyto eliminate as many things
that can go wrong as possible,knowing that something still
will go wrong.
But you're like, oh, we can getrid of the easy stuff, we can
get rid of these 10 sort ofreally obvious things.
Then we'll be ready for thesurprises when they come up.
Jennifer Coronado (30:39):
You had said earlier in your career that you
used to take things personally.
Scott Mosier (30:43):
Yes.
Jennifer Coronado (30:44):
Do you still feel that way or I mean,
everybody does, we're all human,but do you still take things as
personally as you did when youwere?
Scott Mosier (30:52):
early on in your career.
No, no, no, no, I don't.
I have moments, but it's morelike fleeting, you know, and I
think I have the, the awarenessand the distance to be like, why
are you taking this personally?
Like that's has nothing to dowith you, but that back then it
was like, yeah, I tookeverything really personally
(31:12):
because we were young and Ithink you had this.
I had this sense of sense of.
I had a sense that I was beingevaluated constantly, because
when you don't know something,or when you feel like you don't
know that much, there is anawareness like, oh, everybody's
watching, which is a story tooright, like that's not true,
everybody was.
But I was always like, oh,everybody's watching me, waiting
(31:35):
for me to screw up, or whatever.
But I was always like, oh,everybody's watching me waiting
for me to screw up, or whatever.
So I think part of takingthings personally is that if you
have the anxiety or the stresswhich I had of trying to do a
good job but not necessarilyknowing how to do it, that
little gap creates taking thingspersonally.
Jennifer Coronado (31:56):
Another thing you had said earlier in your
career and you sort of talkedabout this a little bit earlier
was I'm not really a writer.
But then you went on to writeScreenplace and an animated
feature called Freebirds.
How do you make that shiftmentally and how did you find
that opportunity?
Scott Mosier (32:10):
I was into writing .
It was still something I wasexcited about.
So I'd written like maybe onescript or so during my whole
tenure with Kevin and then,after Zack and Mary Make a Porno
, I decided to stop producingand I wanted to go into
(32:32):
animation.
But I also wanted to take astab at writing.
So the first thing I do thatyear that first year is I wrote
two specs, um, and then thosegot me a job on a friend of mine
, a guy I met named joe casey,who worked on ultimate
spider-man, a cartoon on disneyplus.
(32:53):
Um, he had read this actionscript I wrote and he was like,
do you want to write an episode?
And I was like, yeah, sure, ofcourse.
And he was like, look, if youtotally fuck it up, he goes,
I'll just rewrite it, it's fine.
And well, that's the faith of afriend, right and, uh, you get
(33:13):
an outline and you have likethree days to bang out a draft
and I had no context foranything.
So I was like, yeah, of course.
And so I did like five or sixof those, like you know,
everyone was happy, and so theykept feeding them to me.
I kept writing scripts, I wrotea couple more and then
(33:33):
Freebirds came up, which wascalled Turkeys, which I was not
hired to write it, I was justhired to come on as the creative
producer and that was really myfriend, aaron Warner, who
produced all the Shreks, hadtaken over at Real Effects, the
studio, and they had a moviecalled Turkeys at the time and
he was like you know, I need aproducer and he goes.
(33:54):
If you want to learn animation,like, learn animation, I'll
throw you on the deep end onthis.
And I was like sure.
So I dove in and the writingwas more a byproduct of the
intense and crazy schedule onthat movie.
So I would work all day andthen I would write for hours and
(34:15):
hours and hours at night untillike 3 in the morning.
I'd write pages and stuff andit was more of a void and I just
started filling it and partlybecause I enjoyed it.
You know I was really.
I was into it and I liked thechallenge of it, and so by the
time I finished that it was apretty brutal schedule.
So I didn't know if I was goingto do animation again.
(34:35):
I was kind of like I don't knowif I want to do it.
And then I was editing.
In between I was also a pictureeditor, so I was like, oh, I'll
get a job.
And on a real practical level,to get my health care back, I
immediately went out and didlike two or three jobs in a row
and that's when um chrismelandandri from illumination
had called because a guy namedbrian lynch, who a writer, he
(35:00):
was the craft service guy onChasing Amy.
He was from that part of NewJersey and we'd always kept in
touch, yeah, and he alwayswanted to write and he was a
prolific, really prolific writer.
He had been in LA for a whileand he'd started working with
Illumination and he wrote thefirst Minions.
And so he mentioned me to Chrisbecause they were doubling or
(35:25):
they were increasing theirproductions, so they were going
to try to do more movies and theGrinch was like the one that
was the farthest out.
There was Pets and Sing.
And so he got in touch with meand I was editing across the
street in Santa Monica and Iremember going like I don't know
, I'm just that I don't knowabout animation and the
(35:46):
directors, the Dowdles, thesetwo brothers from Minnesota.
It was a movie called well, it'scalled the Coup.
It was like Owen Wilson andLake Bell and Pierce Brosnan.
It was a really fun thrillerand I hadn't caught a thriller
so I was excited about it.
It ended up being called noEscape or something, because
(36:08):
when we test screened iteveryone was like what's a coop?
Like, why is it called the Coop?
And I was like all right, allright okay.
And then the director was justlike he's right across the
fucking street, like All right,okay.
And then the director was justlike he's right across the
fucking street, like don't be ababy, just go over there and
talk to him.
So I went and talked to Chrisand was very honest.
I was like I don't know.
I was like I had a roughexperience on the last one and
(36:39):
then we talked for like probablysix or seven months and just
kept having meetings.
And then I was brought on asthe producer of the grinch and
and then became the director andand so I didn't really write a
ton during that process and then, when it was done, we're in
paris and you know I, you knowit's like a visual effects
schedule, it's like you're inthe crucible and like delivering
, like like you're kind of atthe top of the peer of the grid
and you're like holy crap,you're working non-stop.
(37:01):
And then suddenly it just fallsprecipitously where it's like
suddenly there's not that manyshots in animation and like you
go from working 14 hours a dayto three, and so I'm in paris
kind of wandering around, and Iremember Garth, uh, who directed
Sing uh, we were at lunch andhe was like, just, you know, go
(37:25):
out and take your notebook andjust go go to these cafe.
He gave me some cafes that heliked and I was like, all right,
I'm gonna start to do that.
So I was wandering around and,um, wondering what I was gonna
do next, and I knew I was reallylike, well, what's left?
Was my big question.
You know, I was sitting theregoing like produce all these
movies for Kevin, which was anamazing experience and, you know
(37:48):
, like a career, like I had afull career.
You know that what I did withhim, and then I'd sort of throw
my hat over the wall.
I was like I'm going to directan animated movie and so, you
know, here I was in this.
You know, next plateau where Iwas like, oh, I did that, okay,
and it kind of came back to thisthe kid or the person who
(38:10):
really started out.
I was like I want to like tryto write my own ideas, like
that's what I'm excited about.
Jennifer Coronado (38:19):
I want to talk to you about two things now
, as we get close to wrapping up, and the first thing is what
project have you done thatyou're really proud of, but it
didn't get the attention thatyou would have liked?
Scott Mosier (38:27):
There's a few.
Now.
I know every time I startsomething that there's no
guarantee anyone's ever going tomake it or sell it, or but it's
still you, still.
You know, for me there's stillan incredible amount of value in
in the exploration of thosethings, because you know you're
working through stuff, you knowyou are just exploring yourself
(38:52):
through all this stuff andusually after the fact, like I'm
not, I don't sit down and writesomething specifically going
like oh, I want to work throughX or this is representative of
that.
It's more that you pour yourselfinto the thing and then when
you read it later on you're likeoh, like, that's me, you know,
(39:15):
dealing with this or processingthis or expressing this part of
myself.
So even in the world wherethings don't sort of sell, my
thoughts always like well, thefirst level of value comes from
you loving what you did andunderstanding why you did it.
Then, of course, the next dayI'm like well, I fucking want to
(39:38):
make it so, like, but still youhave to take a moment to be
like oh, the value, like I'veextracted value in it.
That's why, like, there's justcertain things that I can't sort
of do, because I'm like, if ithas a personal meaning to me,
then, whether people like it ornot, or want to do it or not,
doesn't affect me in the sameway.
(40:00):
Like I've pitched things where Iwas more sort of you know,
bending what it was to otherpeople's sort of expectations or
needs, and then we pitched itand everyone said no.
And I remember feeling likeshit'm.
Now it's in my head like if I,if I do exactly what I want to
(40:22):
do and everyone just says no, itdoesn't stick with me.
I never sit there and go like,well, maybe if you've done this
or maybe you've done that, likeI'm always like how do I
eliminate that?
I want to know that everythingI put into this I did exactly
what I wanted, and if peopledon't want it, people don't want
it.
But I got what I wanted out ofit and I'm excited about it.
Jennifer Coronado (40:49):
For someone who said he wasn't very good at
school.
You sure have spent a lot oftime educating yourself on
things throughout your careerand your life, so you should
give yourself a little morecredit, I think.
Scott Mosier (41:00):
I'm still terrible at school.
I love learning.
I just think they're twoseparate things.
I want to learn at my own pace.
It's like going to exerciseclass.
I'm like I want to do it at 10.
And if I have to do it at fivefor everybody else going to do
it at 10.
And if I have to do it at fivefor everybody else, I'm out Like
(41:21):
I'm not going to do it.
It's interesting because youthink about school and you're
like sometimes I'm just like,yeah, I was bored, some of it
was just boring, some of it Ididn't want to learn, you know,
and I don't think that that'sweird.
There's just classes where Iwas like this is boring and I
know that, like as a kid, you'rejust like, well, I'm never
going to use this or thosethings kind of come out and then
you're an adult and like youtry to pretend that's not true,
(41:42):
but it's true.
I learn more at my own pace.
I read a lot, even working withall of you and coming there, I
loved it because I was like, oh,I get to throw down and get in
a room with a bunch of peopleand learn, but also sort of like
understand and try to becomepart of the conversation.
(42:07):
I had the same thing with sound.
Like I remember we did dogmaskywalker and that was our first
like big sound mix and Iremember distinctly being like
what is this all about?
Like how do I learn more aboutthis so I can actually be in the
conversation?
You know, and part of it is asan artist, I think, when you're
(42:28):
on the receiving end, like I'vebeen an editor and sat there in
rooms or it's like I don't know,it's just something wrong and
I'm like all right, like I'll doit, like I can maybe figure it
out.
But I always am like I want tobe able to be a part of the
conversation in a meaningful way, like I want to be able to like
express myself, so artistsaren't just all walking away
(42:50):
going like oh jesus, like whatthe fuck are we doing?
If I can say, the one thingabout creativity over the last
few years that I've sort of cometo understand is that I have no
idea where it comes from.
A lot of the ideas that I haveor the things that spring into
(43:12):
my mind are just sort of arrive,and I think part of it is being
open, you know.
Part of it is like you have toopen yourself up to that.
But I do think that like it'smore about being in a state of
mind than it is doing anexercise is one thing that I
(43:34):
think I try to impart to people.
Like it's not about like, oh,just do A, b and then you'll
have a good idea.
It's like you know.
I mean some of it's just likebe bored, be sort of just like.
You know, when we were kids wecame up.
I mean, when we were kids wejust came up with tons of shit
and it was because we were bored.
And you know, sometimes, likeright now I'm too busy, so I'm
(43:56):
not in a receptive mode, I'mmore in an output mode.
But I'm always coming back tobeing like how can I create the
space to just be in receptivemode, which is really just
laying around and staring atceilings and sort of walking
around and doing stuff that'ssort of not on the surface
(44:20):
doesn't seem very productive.
Alan Moore has this idea ofsomething called idea space,
where he thinks all these ideasare sort of like in a cloud.
He's like that's why people canindependently come up with the
wheel, or ideas will spring upall around the world at the same
time, because the idea is justit's their time to come, and I
(44:44):
think that's a reallyinteresting take on it and your
job is really just to connect tothat kind of space, which is
about being open and sort ofletting go of anxiety and worry
and just sort of relaxing andand open yourself up to whatever
weird wild ideas are going tocome in.
Jennifer Coronado (45:04):
Yeah, and sometimes I think it.
It comes from connecting justto your humanity and who you are
at a base level.
Scott Mosier (45:11):
Well, I think that's, I think that's, I think
it's the same thing.
I think it's like all you'resaying is like you just scrape
the business and the all, the,all the things that come with it
and the is it going to sell oris it not going to like all
these things that sort of comewith it?
It's like you have to stripthose away, and some of it is
just me going like, what do Iwant to watch?
Like, if you sit down, likewhat do you want to read?
(45:43):
What do you want to watch?
What?
Like?
What piece of art do you wantto look at?
Like you can do that betterthan you know.
That's the, that's yoursuperpower is like you can
actually figure out what youwant to see, and so really your
job is just to figure that outand then, you know, then sit
down and kind of start to make.
Jennifer Coronado (45:54):
I appreciate you taking time to meet with us.
Scott Mosier (45:59):
Of course.
Hopefully this fits inside ofwhat it's supposed to be.
I didn't go off on weirdtangents.
Jennifer Coronado (46:06):
Thank you for listening to Everyone Is.
Everyone Is is produced andedited by Chris Hawkinson,
executive producer is AaronDussault, music by Doug Infinite
.
Our logo and graphic design isby Harrison Parker and I am Jen
Coronado.
Everyone Is is a SlightlyDisappointed Productions
production, dropping every otherThursday.
Wherever podcasts are available, make sure to rate and review,
(46:28):
and maybe even like andsubscribe.
Thank you for listening.
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